Overnight, Israel’s Occupation Forces launched their largest attack on the West Bank since the second Intifada of 2002, employing aerial strikes against Palestinians in the towns of Salim, Qusra, Beit Furik, Tubas, Tulkarem, and refugee camps like Far’a and Nur Shams.
Israel’s forces have also destroyed infrastructure, including sewage and water systems, electricity networks, roads and hospitals in Tulkarem, making clear that this attack is not only targeting Palestinians themselves, but the essential services that support their lives.
The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) demands the Australian Government takes immediate and decisive action to cut ties with and sanction Israel in response to this escalating military and settler violence in the occupied West Bank.
This unfolding attack is part of a distressing pattern of intensifying Israeli state and settler violence in the West Bank since October 2023.
It is clear that Israel is using its ongoing genocide in Gaza as a distraction to escalate its campaign of ethnic cleansing and annexation of territory in the West Bank.
Given that international courts have already found Israel to be in violation of international law for its occupation of the West Bank, its apartheid policies, and its genocidal actions in Gaza, it is imperative that the Australian Government take action to exert pressure on Israel to halt these brazen war crimes.
To this end, APAN demands that the Australian Government immediately:
- Publicly condemns Israel’s continuous military and settler violence in the occupied West Bank and ends all support for Israel, including by cutting off economic, industry, trade, diplomatic and military relationships and cooperation.
- Imposes autonomous sanctions against Israeli political and military figures who have incited, planned, facilitated and executed these and other attacks in the West Bank, and the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
- Imposes a two-way arms embargo on Israel.
- Proactively supports investigations into Israeli war crimes in the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court.
- Cancels the DGR status of any Australian charities that contribute to, support or benefit from Israel’s illegal settlements.
Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed at least 652 Palestinians, including 148 children, with more 5,400 more injured. Israeli authorities have demolished 1,416 Palestinian homes, displacing more than 3,200 Palestinians since October 2023.
Quotes attributed to APAN President Nasser Mashni:
It is glaringly obvious that Israel is exploiting its genocidal campaign in Gaza as a smokescreen to intensify its systematic ethnic cleansing of the West Bank.
The recent International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion demanded that international governments compel Israel to end its occupation. Today, we echo this call: The Australian Government must act decisively and without delay, severing all ties with Israel and imposing sanctions to address this rogue state’s blatant violations of international law and human rights.
Australia’s – and the international community’s – continued failure to act is nothing short of a license for Israel to continue its campaign of ethnic cleansing and land annexation with impunity.